Bow sight



Nov. 15, 1960 R. J.IKOWALCYK 2,959,860

Bow SIGHT" I Filed Oct. 6, 1959 lllllllllllblllllllllllllll INVENTO ATTORNEY 5- 2,959,860 Ice Patented Nov. 15, 1960 BOW SIGHT Robert J. Kowalcyk, 1073 W. Hannah St., Houtsdale, Pa.

Filed Oct. 6, 1959, Ser. No. 844,783

2 Claims. (CI. 33-46) My invention relates to bows, with especial relation to bow sights.

A purpose of my invention is to provide an improved bow sight.

A further purpose of my invention is to provide a bow sight that is relatively simple in construction, yet is a superior sight in overall accuracy, convenience, and comfort in actual use.

Further purposes will appear from the remainder of the specification and the claims.

My invention is illustrated in the drawings by a particular embodiment chosen from the standpoint of convenience in illustration, satisfactory operation and clear demonstration of the principles involved.

Figure 1 of the drawings, which shows an embodiment of my invention, is an elevation view of an entire bow with string and arrow and also a stylized indication of line of sight.

Figure 2 is a similar view, enlarged, of a fragmentary part of the foregoing, showing only the sight itself together with the adjacent part of the bow.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the sight itself.

Figure 4 is a section of the bow including the sight and is along the line 44 in Figure 3 as to the sight and along the line 4-4 in Figure 2 as to the adjacent part of the bow.

Figure 5 is a partly exploded perspective view of the sight.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of a part of the sight which is shown assembled in Figure 5.

In the description which follows of the sight and the bow of which it forms a part, to avoid confusion the direction which will be toward the target in shooting will be uniformly called front and the direction which will be away from the target in shooting will be uniformly called rear or back,'whenever such terms are employed. Thus, the description as a whole will be brought into conformity with the normal use of the terms front sight and rear sight. However, in view of the fact that the side of the bow proper which is toward the target in shooting has in the past often been called the back of the bow, in conflict with the above system of terminology, that side of the bow proper will herein be called the target side" and the side of the bow proper which is opposite it will be called the string side, avoiding use of the terms front and back in that particular connection.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, mounted on the target side 9 of long bow 10, in a suitable position above grip 11, is sighting arrangement 12.

Sighting arrangement 12 is made up of mounting member 13, rider member 14, transverse member 15, and sighting member 16.

Mounting member 13 consists of arcuate strip 20, backwardly extending strips 21 extending backward from either end more or less at right angles to it, and back strips 22 which extend toward each other from the back ends of the respective backwardly extending strips.

Actually the entire mounting member 13 is preferably made out of one single strip of metal suitably bent to form the above-mentioned elements, although of course if desired it could be made out of separate strips suitably fastened or united together. Running longitudinally along almost the entire length of arcuate strip 20, and located in its center, is slot 25, along the sides of which are range graduations 26 (shown in Figures 3 and 5 but omitted for the sake of simplicity of illustration from Figure 6).

Mounting member 13 is mounted on bow 10 by attaching back strips 22 to the target side 9 of the bow in any suitable manner, as by placing them firmly against said target side and wrapping tape 27 tightly around both strip and bow.

Rider member 14 is in the form of a cross, with body 31, vertical arms 32, and cross arms 33. It is mounted on mounting member 13 by means of threaded rod or screw 34 projecting from its body 31 through slot 25 and wing nut 35 on screw 34, together with vertical arms 32 which are bent forward to lie in slot 25, and cross arms 33. Body 31 is in back of arcuate strip 20, while cross arms 33 have forward projections 36 lightly contacting the respective outside edges of arcuate strip 20 and extending forward to project substantially beyond that strip. Rider member 14 is thus adapted to ride up and down along arcuate strip 20.

Transverse member 15 includes transverse strip 40 having slot 41 running most of its length. Fixed to one end of strip 40 is backwardly extending member 42, preferably a part of the same metal strip bent around; and hinged at the other end of transverse strip 40 is pivot member 43, also extending backward.

Pivot member 43 at its rear end has ears 45 extending parallel to the transverse strip and seating pivot pin 46, around which long screw 47 is pivoted. (The hinge pin and pivot pin are not shown in the exploded views.) Long screw 47 extends across in a transverse direction through hole 48 in backwardly extending member 42, and is locked on to the backwardly extending member by thumb nuts 50 and 51, which are on the long screw on opposite sides of the backwardly extending member.

Transverse member 15 is mounted on rider member 14 by means of projections 36on the cross arms 33 of the rider member, which projections extend through slot 41 and thus hold the transverse member in position to ride transversely across while'mounted on the said rider member. Screw 34 also extends through the slot 41 and wing nut 35 is outside of the transverse member and holds it against arcuate strip 20.

' Pivot member 43 includes short screw extending in the rear in a direction opposite to that of ears 46. Mounted to turn on this short screw 55 is sighting member 16, the screw extending through hole 56 in the mounting portion of the sighting member and the sighting member being held on by wing nut 57 on the screw. Mounting portion 60 of the sighting member isa vertical plate more-or less in the shape of -a shallow half-moon, and on it is sighting portion 61 consisting of a straight flanged rim 62 on top of the mounting portion, with front sight 63 and rear sight 64 at the respective ends.

In setting up the sight as a whole for a particular user, the user will first hold his bow in his typical position and sight along the line of sight with wing nut 57 loose and then tighten the wing nut with sighting member 16 in the angular position involved, in order to fix the proper angular position of the sight for his particular stance and loosing position, that is the position of his bow string hand relative to his face or body. When he has done this, he will try out the bow with the line of sight pointed perpendicularly to transverse strip 40 from the horizontal standpoint, to determine the windage involved in a typical shot. By windage is meant of the tendency of the arrow for various reasons to fiy in a direction which varies horizontally from the direct line of sight. Once he has found the windage angle by observing where arrows directed in a particular direction actually land in still air conditions, he can adjust the two thumb nuts 50 and 51, to change the horizontal sighting angle an amount necessary to compensate, and try it out again if need be to see that windage has been compensated for. Either in conjunction with the windage adjustment or after the windage adjustment, he can loosen wing nut 35 and move transverse member across the bow until he can sight along the sight with his eye in its normal position when holding the bow, without need for moving his eye horizontally to accommodate to the sight. He will normally then put a mark on the transverse member 15 to show the proper position of the transverse member as far as he is concerned. He will also try out his device for different ranges, to see how much variation in direction of aim is required for the different ranges, and mark on his arcuate strip these various ranges.

Then in shooting at a given range, all he needs to do is to loosen wing nut 35, and holding transverse member 15 at the mark in its slot, set it at that range on the armate strip 29. Then, after tightening wing nut 35, he can sight directly on the target with due allowance for variation due to air condition such as especially wind direction and velocity, and shoot.

The device is very helpful in accurate shooting in archery. Without the necessity of any special point of aim different from the target, it substantially eliminates or allows elimination of all variables except those involved in air conditions such as wind, and those which are due to variation in technique by the archer, such as release of the bow string or steadiness of holding the bow or the like, or variation in the archers equipment, such as especially in the arrows. At the same time, the device is relatively simple and inexpensive and sturdy and dependable.

In view of my invention and disclosure, variations and modifications to meet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident to others skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of my invention without copying the structure shown, and I, therefore, claim all such insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of my claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bow sight comprising,

a mounting member having a strip arcuate in shape with the radius of the arc perpendicular to the broad longitudinal back of the strip, said strip having a slot running longitudinally of it and extending most of its length and extending completely through from front to back, said strip having fixed thereto mounting means at top and bottom extending in each case back from the strip and then respectively toward each other in a position spaced from the strip,

a cruciform rider member having a body to the rear of the strip, upper and lower arms riding in the said slot, side arms extending from the rear out past the front of the strip, a central screw extending through said slot out to a point beyond the front of the said slot and a wing nut on said screw,

a horizontal member having a horizontal strip with its back perpendicular to the radius of the arc of the said acruate strip, a horizontal slot extending most of the length of the horizontal strip and through from back to ront thereof, said horizontal strip being mounted on and riding upon said rider member with the side arms and central screw of said rider member extending through said horizontal slot and the wing nut of the rider member being beyond the front of said horizontal strip, said horizontal strip having fixed thereto at one end thereof a backwardly extending. strip and having hinged at the opposite end thereof to swing in a horizontal plane a backwardly extending pivot member, the horizontal member also including a long screw which is pivotally attached to the rear of the pivot member and extends approximately parallel to the horizontal strip through a hole in said bacltwardly extending member, and the horizontal member having two thumb nuts on the long screw, one respectively on either side of the backwardly extending member, and a short screw fixed to the pivot member and extending approximately oppositely from the long screw and having a wing nut thereon, and

a sight member having a mounting portion mounted on the short screw between the pivot member and the wing nut and swingable about said short screw in a vertical plane, and a front and rear sight fixed on top of the mounting portion.

2. A bow comprising a bow portion and an arcuate strip. mounted longitudinally of the bow portion on the target side thereof in a position spaced therefrom with a slot running longitudinally most of the length of the strip and extending through from front to back of the strip, a rider member riding in the said slot and having projecting structure, a strip transverse to the bow portion, which strip has a transverse slot extending most of the length of the strip and rides on the projecting structure in a direction transverse to the bow portion by means of the said transverse slot, a backwardly extending member fixed to one end of the transverse strip, a pivot member hinged to the other end of the transverse strip and extending backward therefrom, a long screw pivoted to the pivot member and extending across approximately parallel to and back of the transverse strip through a hole in the backwardly extending member, two nuts on the long screw, one on either side of the backwardly extending member, and a sight member mounted on the pivot member for rotational movement in a vertical plane which approximately includes the line of direction in which the bow is pointed, the sight member having a front and rear sight thereon.

Archery & Ski Equipment by the Outdoor Sports Mfg. Co., Forestville, Conn, Catalog #45, pg. 12. 

